Preview Of Cowboys-Redskins This Sunday

The NFL rescheduled the game from 1:00 to 4:15 EST since the importance of the game changed somewhat, at least for the Redskins. Despite all the rivalry between the two teams and recent events such as Sean Taylor’s untimely death sending the resurgent ‘Skins on a three game winning streak, the Cowboys still have little, if any, incentive in this game.

Despite Phillips’ statements about wanting to win and Madden’s ” integrity of the game” stuff or the team records that several of the Cowboys players could reach, the bottom line is all the goals for the team have been achieved. I would love to hear what Parcells would have said about this week if he were still the head coach. All these things about records, etc. would have been quite comical to him.

So the way I see it, Romo will most likely play in the first half, as will most of the starters, for the best reason of getting some playing time with WR Terry Glenn. That will most probably be enough for the coaching staff to get a feel for how Glenn has recuperated from his knee scope. Then they will have basically two weeks to practice together before the first playoff game on Jan. 12th or 13th.

Most of the Cowboys players, especially Romo, would tell you that they want to play to win and play the entire game, if given the choice, but this would simply be too risky as we saw last week when several players were injured, including Terrell Owens. As much as I’d love to see the Cowboys annihilate the Redskins, and believe me I would, I just think the risks outweigh any gains to be made in this one.

Having said that, I don’t think it prudent to make any kind of game prediction other than I think Dallas can still win it, even if Brad Johnson plays most of the game and we run the ball the majority of the time. Also, I wouldn’t want to be in Wade Phillips’ shoes this week, as he will be second-guessed regardless of how things turnout.